Fall 2019 Issue 7

SF State’s student-run publication since 1927

Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2019

Volume 110, Issue 7

ETHNIC STUDIES, 50 YEARS LATER...

Strikers raise their fists during the 1969 student, faculty and community strike at San Francisco State College (Photo by Nacio Jan Brown)

INCLUDED IN THIS EDITION...

CITY: PAGE 2 San Francisco to open Office of Racial Equity and address any systemic racial injustices citywide

GGX_FALL_2019_Issue 7!!!!jghkvfdbhjkfdzxhjkdfzkshjfasd.indd 1

S

an Francisco this month will launch an Office of Racial Equity to rectify racial disparities in the policies and practices of all city departments.

SPORTS: PAGE 6

The San Francisco 49ers clobbered the Cleveland Browns, standing tall as one of two undefeated teams left in the NFL

he Cleveland Browns T and San Francisco 49ers came into the 2019

season with far different expectations — one destined for the playoffs, the other for mediocrity.

10/7/19 10:06 PM

2•CITY

TUESDAY, OCT.8, 2019 | GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG

EDITOR’S NOTE: The College of Ethnic Studies is an integral part of our campus, as it bears a rich and important history. Student-led strikes beginning in 1968 sparked the creation of the first ever College of Ethnic Studies in 1969 and diversified the core of SF State’s curriculum. The significance of a college founded to increase diverse ranges of thought and tradition should be remembered and revisited as time passes.

From Oct. 7-13, the college is hosting an anniversary commemoration week, marked by a series of on-campus events meant to keep the ethnic studies dialogue open five decades after it genesis.

In this 50th anniversary special edition, readers will find stories that explain where we are now as a campus in relation to ethnic studies, a calendar of events and profiles of the people who played a critical role in making this college the entity it is today.

This issue’s cover features a black and white photo from the historic strike. Surrounding the strikers fists pumped in the air are portraits of current students and faculty within various ethnic studies departments. Their faces represent those who were able to further their education as a result of the strikers’ labor in the 60’s.

Students and teachers of SF State’s College of Ethnic Studies pose for portraits from left to right: Cyan Chang, Selena Zhao, Andrea David, Irene Duller, Philip Nguyen, Justin Woodard, Troy Kondo, Drew Katigbak, Diana Rodriguez Calderon, Alexandro Aguilar, Rogelio X, Ivan Garcia, Guadelupe Diaz, Shawnee Sample, Alejandra Martinez, Michelle Castro Diaz, Eric Lima De Paula, Berenice Rodriguez Magana, Ivette Gonzalez, Arlette Gonzalez, Arlene Daus-Magbual, Alauna Tomes, Arneson Sambile, Cassandra Reyes, Chan Kwong S. Speers, Alexandria Savea-Lopez, Gabriela Segovia McGahan, Timothy Bautista, Celeste Francisco, Lee Mahga, Jada Quidachay, Levalasi Loi-Oh, Andy Cho, Bucket Manyweather, Derek Cheung, Sharlene Braginton, Imani Graham, Maxinne Estaniel, Klenya Monroy, Maveling Balladares, Alex Bonner, Alan Chan, Norah Alotaibi, Majeid Crawford, John Ayres, Da Jah, Brittany Dominguez, Irais Quiroz, Eliana Sanchez, Karina Rodriguez Valencia,Chiara Ganeku, Ikeoluwa Oladoja, Renato Marin,Geanella Coronel, Jennifer Palacios, Kathia Gonzalez, Daniel Hogan, Carlos Hernanez, Megan Clements, Brinton Prouty, Em Powers, Cherre Safapou, Grace Yu. (Photos by William Wendelman / Golden Gate Xpress)

SF Planning tackles a racist history

BY DAVID MAMARIL HOROWITZ CITY NEWS EDITOR

B

ack in the early and mid-20th century in San Francisco, house deeds prevented homeowners from selling houses to people of color, and banks refused to provide home loans to African-Americans.

National laws outlawed these discriminatory land practices 51 years ago through the Fair Housing Act. But the city is still segregated, even more now than in that time period, according to a Berkeley Haas Institute study published in May. “We have a role in either reinforcing those patterns or trying to rectify some things,” Myrna Melgar, the president of San Francisco’s Planning Commission, told Xpress.

To address those racial and social inequities in San Francisco, the city’s Planning Commission and the Historic Preservation Commission participated in a one-day workshop Sept. 27 focused on tackling those inequities.

Although San Francisco now requires every city department to undergo racial equity training as part of the establishment of an Office of Racial Equity, the Planning Department began its initiative two years ago, and each member of its staff has undergone training.

The seven-member Planning Commission provides guidance on land use, transportation and planning for the mayor and Board of Supervisors. It also maintains the General Plan, which guides the city’s vision for the future, and oversees the Planning Department.

“We have a responsibility as government particularly to advance racial and social equity,” said Will Dominie, who led the day’s training as a member of the Bay Area Regional Health Inequity Initiative, a coalition of 13 public health departments across the Bay Area. “You’re in a position of power so your responsibility is greater.”

After workshopping lessons on race, class and bias, the training left commissioners with a checklist of questions to ask themselves in numerous steps of the planning process. These racial and social equity assessment tools provides a checklist of questions concerning the equity of each policy, project or program being discussed.

“We have to look at the decisions we make in terms of our policies, the changes to the planning codes, the neighborhood plans that we do,” John Rahaim, the director of the Planning Department, told Xpress. “I think we have to start looking at it through a more frankly complicated set of lenses than we have in the past.”

Several Commissioners then suggested that Planning Department staff implements a racial equity lens for projects before they reach the commission.

“Most of the projects, by the time they come to us, they’ve been through years of analysis and review,” Melgar said.

Commissioner Dennis Richards called

for adding a racial equity element to San Francisco’s General Plan and having the capital gains of house sales go toward a specific fund for racial and social equity.

Commissioners also stressed the importance of diversity in hiring. A Planning Department survey found that the department’s upper management and administration were increasingly white, and the support staff are increasingly non-white.

“Representation without power is just tokenism,” Commissioner Milicent A. Johnson said. “And so if you’re not actually treating the conditions for people to move up into spaces of power... then theres a serious problem, and you’re not actually

advancing equity.”

Commissioners also emphasized how crucial funding is in providing equity.

“We want equity, but we have to be able to help pay for it because if you create a lot of housing on the left side, and somebody in the kind of town of Western Addition only makes $29,000 a year can’t afford to live there, what’s the point?” Richards said. “With equity comes financing and subsidies. You’ve got to do that.”

Planning Department manager Claudia Flores took their feedback, and is implementing some of it into a racial equity action plan for the commission.

A San Francisco Planning Department survey showed that its white employees comprise a majority of the department’s upper management and a minority of its support staff, while non-white employees make up the reverse. (Figure courtesy of the San Francisco Planning Department)

City fashions racial equity subcommittee

BY SAM MOORE STAFF REPORTER

S

an Francisco this month will launch an Office of Racial Equity to rectify racial disparities in the policies and practices of all city departments.

The office will create a city-wide racial equity framework along with individual outcomes for every city department. Each department will be required to create action plans focused on racial equity, according to Chelsea Boilard, legislative aide of Supervisor Sandra Lee Fewer, who introduced the legislation for the office in May alongside Supervisor Vallie Brown.

“Equity means really making sure that we’re taking history into account, along with the disproportionate amount of additional resources that communities of color will need in order to have the same successful outcome as other folks,” Boilard said.

GGX_FALL_2019_Issue 7!!!!jghkvfdbhjkfdzxhjkdfzkshjfasd.indd 2

If a department fails to meet the outcomes of their action plan, the Board of Supervisors will have the authority to withhold its ability to spend from its budget, Boilard said. Additionally, the legislation requires all new policies that have an impact on racial equity — specifically, those related to housing, land use, transportation and economic security — to be referred to the Office of Racial Equity for analysis prior to their vote by the Board of Supervisors.

Under the jurisdiction of the Human Rights Commission, the new office will have a budget of $1 million over the next two years.

At a celebratory press conference held by Mayor London Breed Oct. 1, Fewer referenced San Francisco’s history of racially biased policies, including anti-Chinese legislation, Japanese internment camps, redlining that prevented people of color from obtaining housing loans and the destruction of historically black neighborhoods.

Though modern policies are no longer explicitly rac-

ist, Fewer said, systemic racism still manifests through government inaction when faced with the possibility of addressing or correcting past harms. This type of racism refers to patterns of racial oppression that are influenced by, or deeply rooted in, past economic and political laws and policies.

“In that way, it is more insidious, more dangerous and harder to address,” Fewer said.

Breed emphasized the need to address racial disparities in education, homelessness, mental health and access to housing that comes as a result of historically racist policies.

“We know that in the past, our city has enacted policies that disproportionately harm communities of color,” Breed said. “With this new Office of Racial Equity, we will work to right those past wrongs and ensure that our city’s policies going forward are equitable and just.”

10/7/19 10:06 PM

3•OPINION

GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG | TUESDAY, OCT.8, 2019

K-12 students should have ethnic studies

BY KERASA DIMITRIOS TSOKAS STAFF REPORTER

A

n assembly bill, which would require undergraduate students to take a three-unit ethnic studies course for CSU curriculum, is working its way through the California Legislature. The bill, if passed, would go into effect beginning the 2020-21 academic year.

It has been 50 years since 500 SF State students were arrested for participating in a rally against systematic discrimination.

The Black Student Union, Third World Liberation Front, and other students and staff who saw the problem in the CSU’s curriculum: a lack of classes geared towards people of color organized a strike on Nov. 6, 1968.

The strike which lasted for five months resulted in the establishment of four departments: American Indian Studies, Asian American Studies, Black Studies, and La Raza Studies. SF State has remained to be the only CSU that has a College of Ethnic Studies.

California lawmakers want all CSU students to understand the “diversity and social justice history of the United States.”

The bill, AB 1460, is an overdue piece of legislation to increase consciousness of

history involving people of color in CSUs. But it does not go far enough.

California Legislature needs to expand its ethnic studies requirements for K-12 schools too.

A discussion of ethnic studies’ importance in undergraduate students’ education began a couple of years before AB 1460’s introduction. A CSU Task Force on the Advancement of Ethnic Studies, created by Chancellor White in 2017, proposed recommendations for all CSU’s on how they can include ethnic studies on campus.

Some recommendations sent to President Mitchell, the former president of California State University in Bakersfield, included making ethnic studies a GE requirement in all CSUs and to hire more ethnic studies faculty. SF State should serve as a model to other CSUs as it already includes social justice as a GE requirement.

A research review by the National Education Association (NEA) explains how ethnic studies are beneficial to students academically and socially. The research said that having ethnic studies in a classroom provides students of color a chance to be “classroom ‘insiders’ whose prior knowledge was valued and useful to academic learning.”

Providing ethnic students in classrooms

from K-12 grade would allow students to connect to the history and content being discussed. History books and classes are often outdated and whitewashed, leaving students to believe misconceptions about the United States’ history.

The lack of ethnic studies in K-12 leaves students learning history from teachers that themselves aren’t qualified to teach.

A 2015 study from Humanities Indicators showed that while only 2% of music teachers did not have a certification and a degree in the field, 35% of history teachers lacked both credentials.

Mixing a lack of ethnic studies in a classroom and professors that did not learn all aspects of history or lack certain requirements leaves room for insensitive teaching methods.

In 2017, a high school teacher at Whitney High School in Cerritos, California decided to teach their students about slavery by tying them up with tape outside of the classroom, laying them down in a dark classroom while having them watch clips from the movie “Roots.” The teachers were the captains and the students were the slaves.

Shardé Carrington, a mother of a student from Whitney High School said that the school ensured no physical harm would

happen to the students. “You cannot predict how anyone will respond to being bound in the dark and viewing traumatic images,” Carrington said.

History isn’t pleasant with difficult subjects to discuss. K-12 students should have access to healthy interactions when those subjects do arise.

It has been 50 years since 500 SF State students were arrested for participating in a rally against systematic discrimination.

The Black Student Union, Third World Liberation Front and other students and staff who saw a problem in the CSU’s curriculum — a lack of classes geared towards people of color — organized a strike on Nov. 6, 1968.

Two of the biggest demands the strikers had were a college of ethnic studies with curricula geared toward people of color — Native American, Asian American, Black and Latino — and that all non-white students who apply to San Francisco State be accepted in the fall of 1969.

The five-month strike resulted in the establishment of four departments: American Indian Studies, Asian American Studies, Black Studies and La Raza Studies. SF State remains to be the only CSU that has a College of Ethnic Studies.

Philips delivers a dark fresh take in ‘Joker’ origin story

BY ANDREW R. LEAL OPINION EDITOR

The new film “Joker” is out in theaters, giving audiences a reason to “smile and put on a happy face.”

Director Todd Phillips delivers a hit with his new origin story about the infamous Batman antagonist, the Joker.

Joaquin Phoenix stars in the titular role as Arthur Fleck aka the Joker. And Phillips successfully conveys the Joker’s origins through unique storytelling and cinematography.

The movie starts off with Fleck living a life with mental illness as an underpaid clown-for-hire who takes care of his sickly adoptive mother, Penny, in a slum apartment within the fictional crime-filled Gotham City during the early 80’s. He also has a condition that makes him laugh uncontrollably in inappropriate situations.

Over the course of the movie, Fleck expresses anger at people in positions of power, including his social worker who all ignored his expressions of dissatisfaction toward his life, their mistake.

Following his firing from his clown gig for bringing a loaded gun to a children’s hospital, three drunk businessmen beat up Fleck because they don’t understand that he is a troubled person. He guns them all down for beating him up. And Fleck’s killings ignite a political movement, he has no desire to lead but takes pleasure in starting.

GGX_FALL_2019_Issue 7!!!!jghkvfdbhjkfdzxhjkdfzkshjfasd.indd 3

The second act “Joker” is dedicated to Fleck learning about the truth of his troubled past, once he knows the truth he becomes the Joker, who was in him all along.

His first action as the Joker is to rid himself of the person who kept the truth from him, Penny.

But Fleck is misdirected multiple times by his mother before he learns the truth.

His mental illness clouds Fleck’s perception of reality so it is difficult for him to piece everything together initially.

Philips making the decision to have Fleck turn into Joker because he learns about his tragic past rather than an act of evil or because of his mental illness are what makes “Joker” unique and good.

If Fleck became Joker because of the crimes he commits it would have left the movie flat. Had Philips gone with mental illness as the reason and Fleck would’ve seemed sympathetic and that would’ve been a mistake to make. The Joker should never be sympathized with.

One other way Phillips employs great storytelling in “Joker” is to do a fresh take on the Joker’s past.

Fleck learns from his adoptive mother through a letter that he is supposedly the son of Thomas Wayne whose son is Bruce Wayne, the boy who’d become the Batman.

This adds a unique take on a decades-old comic book character who has had many origin stories already. And it works.

However, Philips then does a twist on a twist and reveals his mother, Penny, really adopted Fleck after he was abandoned as a young kid. And while growing up with his adoptive mom, he was abused by her boyfriend and Fleck got the laughing condition from the trauma he suffered at a young age.

The double twists pay off in “Joker” because it would not have been enough to make Fleck become the Joker because he is a bachelor living with his “mom” in a slum apartment, working a woeful job.

Philips also shows how Fleck becoming the Joker made him feel great after a life of tragedy through the cinematography.

The first shot of the film is a close up that shows Fleck dressed as a clown, sitting in front of a vanity, trying to force a smile by stretching his mouth with his fingers.

The next scene shows Fleck dancing happily as a clown holding an “Everything must go sign,” at a gig he is working on a sidewalk. He has no problem putting on a smile for work, his predicament is smiling genuinely for himself.

Jump all the way to the second-to-last scene in “Joker” when Fleck, after killing multiple people and starting a mass chaotic looting spree in Gotham, is now Joker. He is being celebrated by a mob of anarchists wearing clown masks, tearing up the city and Phillips cuts to a full body shot.

The shot shows Joker easily sliding his fingers, covered with his blood on the out-

side of his mouth to make a smile, and dancing happily on a police car hood.

Fleck becoming the Joker helps him as an individual break from the tragedy but is bad for Gotham given the riots.

There are a couple of moments where the movie doesn’t work, such as another interpretation of Bruce Wayne’s parents being killed. Phillips does tie the deaths to be the result of Joker’s chaotic looting in Gotham he started. The problem is the moment being overplayed already in other media.

Another moment that doesn’t work in Joker is the many on-the-nose references in the movie. For example, there are two shots of Fleck making a difficult climb on long steep stairs to get to his apartment, which Philips shot to show how hard it is to live life as a straight arrow. Cut to when Fleck first becomes Joker and he dances down the steps because he wants to and it’s easy for him to descend into darkness.

Philips even blatantly conveys the midpoint Fleck is at during a scene showing a segment of “Modern Times” by Charlie Chaplin when he is roller skating near an edge, which shows Fleck can carry on the status quo or make that jump into Joker.

But overall “Joker” is a movie with unique storytelling and cinematography, Phillips knocks it out of the park with this fresh take on Joker’s origin story. Go watch “Joker” as soon as you can.

10/7/19 10:06 PM

4•CAMPUS

TUESDAY, OCT.8, 2019 | GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG

The fight for Ethnic Studies continues

BY ARIANNE ARCIAGA STAFF REPORTER

C

rowds of students and faculty on the SF State campus held their signs up loud and proud as they fought through a sea of police officers, shouting, “On strike shut it down! On strike shut it down!”

50 years ago at SF State, the Black Student Union (BSU) and the Third World Liberation Front (TWLF) — a coalition of other student groups — made history after leading one of the biggest student-led strikes in 1968. Strikers were driven to have equal opportunity for public higher education and to have a third world studies department to tell the history of the people around the world.

During the time of the strike, the Vietnam War draft forced young citizens into a war that the American public was questioning and protesting. Sixty percent of the nation disapproved of President Johnson’s handling of Vietnam by September 1967 according to a study by Cornell University.

“We were fighting for the real history to be showing in the college, and we didn’t know at the time that it would lead to programs all over the United States,” said Steve Zeltzer, a participant in the 1968 student strike.

After graduating high school in 1967, Zeltzer started his first semester at what was then San Francisco State College as a history major. Zeltzer said during his first week struggles between the administration and the students were already happening.

A fight for the education of all minorities and a struggle for open admissions to all

“

Ethnic Studies programs and departments have been under attack since its birth in the late 60s. So it’s incredible to have an entire college, and its longevity has been pretty remarkable.

- AMY SUEYOSHI

Strikers pictured at SF State in 1968 Photo taken by and courtesy of Terry Schmitt.

working-class students going to SF State.

“It was an exciting atmosphere. There were thousands of students involved and professors and people from the community came to campus. It was a community strike, a community labor strike,” said Zeltzer. “That’s why it was successful because you had different communities in San Francisco coming to the campus.”

Zeltzer was part of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) where students who wanted to fight racism, discrimination and the Vietnam War could organize. Although many student groups were hoping to implement the same changes, they originally did not work together.

“The SDS initially did not want to support the demands of the BSU and the Third World Liberation Front,” Zeltzer said. “But we said, go do it as a matter of principle.

And we were able to reach out to the communities and labor to get support for the strike.”

From November 1968 to March 1969, students, faculty and community activists protested for an ethnic studies program for 134 days. Within those 134 days, there was a huge dispute among hundreds of police officers and students. Almost 700 students were arrested and jailed just two months

after the strike started — including Zeltzer.

“I was arrested three or four times, but many of them [strikers] were arrested and the district attorney were prosecuting people — so many of my friends went to jail for about six months,” Zeltzer said.

After months of protesting across the SF State campus, the BSU and TWLF signed an agreement with President Samuel Ichiye Hayakawa that would meet the protesters’ demands. However, not all of them were met. The administration did not allow the people who organized the strike to be part of the ethnic studies program. The name of the program originally was supposed to be “Third World Studies” but changed to the College of Ethnic Studies.

In September 1969, students were able to attend the College of Ethnic Studies (COES). The strike helped increase minority eligibility and representation across college campuses and started a rise of similar departments around the United States.

After 50 years, the COES provides almost two hundred courses each semester that focus on narratives of Africanas, Asian Americans, American Indians and Latinx groups. COES also gives scholarships to students who major in ethnic studies.

Tomasitá Medál, a student and 1968

strike participant, encourages students to enroll in different ethnic studies programs.

Medál said she hopes students take advantage of the ethnic studies classes that SF State provides. She said people deserve to learn the truth and the beauty of people’s cultures.

“If you are Asian American take a Native American studies course or an American Indian studies,” Medál said. “Take advantage that we have a College of Ethnic Studies in SF State because not every college in the U.S. offers it. It’s very special for us to hear about our ancestors.”

The College of Ethnic Studies’ mission statement states that they provide safe academic spaces for all to learn the histories, cultures and intellectual traditions of Native peoples and communities of color in the U.S. “It’s incredible to think about the College of Ethnic Studies being in existence for half a century,” said Amy Sueyoshi, Dean of COES. “Ethnic studies programs and departments have been under attack since its birth in the late 60s. So it’s incredible to have an entire college, and its longevity has been pretty remarkable.”

” ‘Red Tawks’ emphasize American Indian Studies struggle “

BY JUAN CARLOS LARA STAFF REPORTER

J

oanne Barker, the department chair for American Indian Studies (AIS), addressed a crowd on Sept. 25, kicking off the first event in a series of Red Tawks — discussions and workshops meant to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the foundation of the College of Ethnic Studies and the occupation of Alcatraz.

Thirty people filled the room slightly more than the 27 current AIS majors and minors.

A portrait of Dubois Phillip McGee, the dean for the College of Ethnic Studies from 1980 until his death in 1999, looked over Barker’s shoulder as she introduced the guests:three Alaska Native women with doctorates. McGee was depicted immersed in shades of blue, some matching the color of Barker’s necklace.

“We wanted to think about the issues that the 50th raises … where we have been as a department, where we are going,” Barker said. “We felt that it was

GGX_FALL_2019_Issue 7!!!!jghkvfdbhjkfdzxhjkdfzkshjfasd.indd 4

important to start with Alaska Native Studies because our elder, Betty Parent, is Alaska Native,” she said.

Parent, the first in the panel to be introduced, was the first Alaska Native woman to earn a doctorate; she was also the first fulltime professor within the AIS department at SF State.

The discussion covered the impact of the strike and the occupation on the university as well as the experiences of Alaska Native people in higher education, the role that Parent played in helping create a space for them and the current struggles of Alaska native people in general and in academia specifically.

Parent became a lecturer for the department in 1979, a decade after the historic strike that created the college, but did not become a full professor until 1991. AIS was not offered as an undergraduate major until 2007, after Parent’s retirement.

Although Parent was not in the department long enough to see her curriculum work culminate in the degree, her colleagues created a student achievement award and named it in her honor to acknowledge her historic accomplishments and work in developing the

department’s major curriculum.

One of her previous students, a Grammy-award-winning musician, dedicated the earnings of an album to the Betty Parent Achievement Award to ensure it would remain funded.

That alumnus, John-Carlos Perea, had known Parent since he was very young, approximately eight years old, the same age his daughter is now, according to Parent.

He was wonderful,” Parent said, recalling Perea as a student. I think we were both a little nervous, because who wants to take a class with their parents’ friend?”

Perea, now an associate professor for the same department, was at the first Red Tawk.

His partner, Dr. Jessica Bissett Perea, is an associate professor for Native American Studies at UC Davis and sat on the panel with Parent.

“One of the ways that I always grew up with the idea of Ethnic Studies is that it was community, Perea said, looking back on his time as Parent’s student. “It made the education I got that much more transformative because it was people I knew.”.

For all the progress the department has made since its creation, Barker said she tries

One of the ways that I always grew up with the idea of Ethnic Studies is that it was community.

- JOHN-CARLOS PEREA

”

not to “drink the Kool-Aid” and avoid addressing the work that still needs to be done.

Barker points to the fact that the department has not hired any new full-time professors since 2007 when Perea was brought on.

Shawnee Sample an AIS major who is in one of Perea’s classes, shared similar sentiments.

“We have a hard time getting our classes because there are no professors available to teach the classes,” Sample said.

Barker said supporting students should be a priority. “I would hope that, going forward, that support becomes stronger,”of her hopes for the future of the department.

10/7/19 10:06 PM

CAMPUS•5

GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG | TUESDAY, OCT.8, 2019

CSU to work on new ethnic studies requirement Fifty years after winning the College of Ethnic Studies, CSU community continues to push for inclusivity of people of color

BY NOOR BAIG STAFF REPORTER

F

ifty years after the student strikes, the push for ethnic studies traveled from SF State’s campus to the steps of California’s legislative capitol.

A bill proposing a three-unit ethnic studies requirement at all California State University (CSU) campuses is the latest of the statewide movement to include ethnic studies at all levels of education. Assembly Bill 1460 will be up for reconsideration after failing to pass in

the state senate this summer, due to concerns with the current version.

The CSU is opposing the bill on the principle that it imposes upon CSU faculty’s freedom to design curriculum and graduation requirements, said Mike Uhlenkamp, Senior Director of Public Affairs for CSU. “We absolutely embrace diversity and we absolutely embrace ethnic studies ... but I think a piece of legislation that man-

dates curriculum is predominantly our issue,” Uhlenkamp said.

After opposing AB 1460 for its legal nature, the Academic Senate of the California State University (ASCSU), a group of faculty representatives from each campus, passed a resolution to come up with their own ethnic studies requirement.

“If the faculty senate are in favor of having an ethic studies requirement then we should listen to faculty, who are usually very much connected with students to roll out a requirement,” Amy Sueyoshi, Dean of the College of Ethnic Studies at SF State said. “We’re happy to support that in any way we can.”

Legislation like AB 1460 may be a short term response to the university system’s lack of curriculum and pedagogy that include “multiracial and multicultural and multiethnic experiences and approaches to all the disciplines,” Jeff Duncan-Andrade, professor of Raza Studies and Educational Leadership, said.

Studying all majors through an ethnic studies lens, as opposed to requiring only one class taught in this way, is crucial to the success of graduates, Andrade said. However, the approach to teaching most subjects is through a Eurocentric, male-centric, English-speaking, middle-class framework.

“The job of the CSU is to prepare students to engage in a society that is multiracial, [multiethnic], [multicultural] and that has a varied and complex history,” Andrade said. “Because that is not the explicit commitment of every discipline in the CSU, the students are ill-prepared.”

Studies have shown that ethnic studies increases academic engagement and facilitates graduation for both students of color and white students, both Sueyoshi and Andrade said.

Existing Diversity Requirement The CSU has a broader diversity requirement in place, which each campus chooses how to implement, Uhlenkamp said.

“The diversity requirement already exists,” Uhlenkamp said. “We’re happy with the requirement as it is, and that it allows students to make that choice for themselves.”

This requirement, however, does not require classes that are centered around the experiences of people of color the way ethnic studies does. A variety of traditional history and social science classes can also fulfill the existing diversity requirement.

“The minute you start trying to center those who have been de-centered, those who are closer to the center begin to resist ... the very idea of being de-centered is somehow disempowering,” Andrade said. “Instead of being able to say ‘Wow, having a black narrative at the center of my educational discourse might actually help me understand myself better.’”

The ASCSU resolution, passed without dissent Sept. 19-20, said the senate would take feedback from the CSU Council on Ethnic Studies and the 23 CSU campus senates by Nov. 1 to determine how best to implement a CSU-mandated ethnic studies requirement.

”

Graduation Units Uhlenkamp also said that this new requirement would interfere with an ex-

GGX_FALL_2019_Issue 7!!!!jghkvfdbhjkfdzxhjkdfzkshjfasd.indd 5

“

The job of the CSU is to prepare students to engage in a society that is multiracial, [multiethnic], [multicultural] and that has a varied and complex history.

- JEFF DUNCANANDRADE

”

isting law (SB 1440) that guarantees transfer students the opportunity to earn a bachelor’s degree within 120 units if 60 units are completed at a community college.

“We have worked for a better part of a decade to streamline the transfer process,” Uhlenkamp said. “So since basically 2010 we have tried to get college degrees, the unit requirement, to 120 units. So a student could take 15 units every semester and graduate in four years ...

The bill would then force us to add units to each degree.”

The bill, however, states that it will not add units to graduation, and the ethnic studies course may be taken as an elective. The ASCSU has not said if a future ethnic studies requirement would be a stand alone requirement or be worked into each major or minor program.

Making Ethnic Studies Real If a requirement does pass on a state level or CSU-level, Andrade said he thinks there will be both positive outcomes and new concerns.

“It’s gonna pull ethnic studies out of the margins, and more into the central mission of the CSU system,” Andrade said.

“And I think that’s a really good thing ... it’s a course correction for an institution that has claimed for a long time to be committed to all of the citizens of California.”

The worry with adding the requirement, Andrade said, is that schools may not be equipped with the curriculum and teaching methods to effectively teach ethnic studies.

“If you’ve got people teaching ethnic studies that aren’t prepared to teach ethnic studies, then the student experience tends to be negative,” Andrade said.

“Then that’s used as a rationale for why we shouldn’t do ethnic studies institution-wide, because it’s not a high quality program.”

The California State Senate will vote on a revised version of AB 1460 in January 2020, by which time the ASCSU hopes to start developing an ethnic studies requirement of its own. The College of Ethnic Studies is hosting a panel about integrating ethnic studies into K-12 and higher education this Thursday at 2 p.m. as part of its 50th anniversary commemoration.

10/7/19 10:06 PM

6•SPORTS

TUESDAY, OCT.8, 2019 | GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG

Men’s soccers’ winning streak hits five, before loss to Chico

GOLDEN GATE XPRESS EDITORIAL STAFF EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Carly Wipf cwipf@mail.sfsu.edu PRINT MANAGING EDITOR Frank Sumrall fsumrall@mail.sfsu.edu ONLINE MANAGING AND SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR Sahar Swaleh sswaleh@mail.sfsu.edu ART DIRECTOR Paisley Trent ptrent@mail.sfsu.edu CITY NEWS EDITOR David Mamaril Horowitz dhorowitz@mail.sfsu.edu CAMPUS NEWS EDITORS MJ Johnson mjohnson23@mail.sfsu.edu Paisley Trent ptrent@mail.sfsu.edu OPINION EDITOR Andrew R. Leal aleal@mail.sfsu.edu SPORTS EDITORS Jimmy DeRogatis jderogatis@mail.sfsu.edu

BY ROBERT JUAREZ SPORTS EDITOR

T

he hot start of the SF State Gators kept their winning streak alive with a 2-1 win Friday, bringing their overall record to 5-1 on the young season. The Gators played well against the stumbling Stanislaus State Warriors (3-5), who have dropped five straight since defeating the William Jessup Warriors (2-1) on Sept. 12.

After losing their first game of the season against the rival Notre Dame De Namur Argonauts, the Gators have won five straight, while keeping opponents to a maximum of one goal.

“It’s just playing one game at a time, it’s nice to have this win streak but we know how strong our conference is,” said head coach Pedro Osorio. “We’re not really worried about how long we can keep this win streak going, we just go in one game at a time.”

An essential part of the win-

Jonathan Orozco jumps up against Jake Mendoza to head the ball as the SF State Gators face CSU Stanislaus in a soccer game at Cox Stadium Oct. 4. Gators took the win with a final score of 2-1. Photo by Kameron Hall / Golden Gate Xpress.

ning streak is sophomore forward Ramiro Palencia, playing a key role in the Gators being victorious Friday with his third goal of the season at the 20th minute, most on the team.

Leading up to the first goal of the contest, the Gators continued to keep a heavy attack on their opponents, outshooting the Warriors 4-1 in the first half. There was a feeling inevitability before the ball would finally catch the net.

Receiving the ball just outside the box, freshman forward Seiya Otsuka rushed to the net, drawing a double team and the goalkeeper’s attention, leaving a roaming Palencia wide open for a pass and tap in goal on the left side of the net.

“It’s exciting, being three goals and the first goal for our home opener,” said Palencia. “It’s a great feeling, just gotta keep on

going and not even think about it. Everyone around is excellent, I just feed off of them.”

As previously mentioned, the Gators kept the pressure on the Warriors throughout most of the first half with strong play down the middle, keeping the ball on the Warriors side of the field.

It wasn’t until the second half when Warriors’ Junior Defender Miguel Galdamez snuck a goal past Gators’ junior goalkeeper Peter Swinkels for an equalizer shot in the 62nd minute.

However, two game-minutes later the Warriors made a costly mistake by fouling senior forward Francisco Saucedo within the box to give the Gators a penalty kick in the 64th minute.

The pressure was put on the shoulders of senior midfielder Jonathan Orozco, who bounced a shot through the lower-left part of

the net to give the Gators the lead and collect his second goal of the season.

“It was a great opportunity to put the team on top,” said Orozco.

“I was able to finish it and give the team a win, it was a good play by [Saucedo], protecting the ball and getting pushed, I’m glad I was given that chance.”

The Gators outplayed the Warriors in every facet of the game, with a busier offense that outshot the Warriors 10-5 with a stifling defense that kept goalkeeper Swinkels out of any trouble other than the one goal scored.

Friday’s game was the first home game for the Gators and they’ll be put to the test to keep their winning streak alive when they play home against the 6-1 Chico State Wildcats on Sunday, Oct. 6, at 11:30 a.m.

Robert Juarez rjuarez1@mail.sfsu.edu PHOTO EDITOR William Wendelman wwendelman@mail.sfsu.edu

XPRESS ADVISERS PRINT ADVISER Gary Moskowitz gmoskowitz@sfsu.edu MULTIMEDIA ADVISER Sachi Cunningham sachic@sfsu.edu PHOTO ADVISER Kim Komenich komenich@sfsu.edu

@ggxnews @ggxnews Check out our website at goldengatexpress. org

49ers Thump ‘Paper Champion’ Browns

BY JESSE GOMEZ STAFF REPORTER

They are who we thought they were.

Well, not quite.

The Cleveland Browns and San Francisco 49ers came into the 2019 season with far different expectations — one destined for the playoffs, the other for mediocrity.

Although the Browns made the flashy off-season signings, it’s the Niners who are looking like the team to bet on Monday night after demolishing the Dawg Pound 31-3.

The prime time game proved a defining match for both franchises. The Niners silenced critics with an undefeated start, despite their opponents having a combined record of 5-15. The Browns continue their uphill battle to be considered more than just paper champions.

Following a Browns three-and-out

GGX_FALL_2019_Issue 7!!!!jghkvfdbhjkfdzxhjkdfzkshjfasd.indd 6

punt, Matt Breida took the first carry of the game 83 yards to the house — putting the red and gold on top by 7-0. The undrafted free-agent out of Georgia Southern University clocked a speed of 22.3 mph on a careerlong score, the fastest peak speed of any ball carrier in the NFL this season.

Baker Mayfield and company got off to a shaky start on the offensive side of the ball as the flashy second year starter from Oklahoma failed to complete a pass in his first five attempts during his first three possessions.

The Niners continue to ride their home-field swagger, marching down the field with a run heavy scheme balanced by a consistent attack through the air. They capped off another possession with Breida in the end zone, this time from the arm of Jimmy Garoppolo for a five-yard score.

The Niners turned in a perfect first quarter, leading the Browns 14-0 with the help of two turnovers.

After a San Francisco field goal flailed right, the Browns managed to get on board for the first time that night with a successful attempt of their own, a 30-yard Austin Seibert kick inside the red zone.

As the half came to an end, the Gold Rush took advantage of yet another Mayfield turnover, his third of the night. Tevin Coleman continued the rushing barrage, putting the 49ers up 21-3 with a 19-yard score.

Starting the second half with the ball, the 49ers bullied the Browns’ defense as they strolled down the field for 90 yards and a score, 77 which came through the air. The score came as All Pro George Kittle’s first of the season.

An already impressive offense could

develop even further if their stud tight end can find his 2018 groove.

The best player on the Browns was their punter Jamie Gillan, who saw far too much field time, another sign that this young 49ers squad is for real.

They have appeared to come of age in primetime fashion.

The Browns did the most Browns thing possible and finished an already embarrassing night by sending their most coveted asset, Odel Beckham Jr., out to receive a punt, leading to a strip fumble and another San Francisco score.

They are who we thought they were: The National Football Conference (NFC) leading 49ers stay undefeated heading into week six for the first time since 1984, while continuing to derail the Cleveland hype train.

10/7/19 10:06 PM

GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG | TUESDAY, OCT.8, 2019

ARTS&ENTERTAINMENT•7

Tour of new cultural flavors in SF

BY BRIANA BATTLE STAFF REPORTER

DBC Restaurant Dev Oli spent six years saving up money to fulfill his dream of opening his own Indian and Nepalese restaurant. But when Oli opened DBC Restaurant two months ago, he didn’t know what to expect. It is located on Fillmore Street, an ever-changing area. Next to a liquor store, which people often loiter in front of all day. The only day the street is empty is Sunday, when the liquor store is closed.

“I don’t think we can survive at this location,” Oli said. He wants to relocate to the Financial District, which he says is calmer than his current location.

There’s a lot of competition for Indian food in the city. A quick Yelp search brings up around 100 Indian Restaurants located within San Francisco city limits. According to Oli, what makes his restaurant stand out is the combination of both Indian and Nepalese food that they serve.

Oli’s favorite part of having his own restaurant is the customer service. Prior to opening his own restaurant, he worked in a hotel, where he discovered his love for hospitality. DBC is open seven days a week.

Oki Sushi Oki Sushi in Noe Valley is just an average sushi restaurant, but this averageness won’t last long. Owner Kathy Lee wants to tailor the menu to give the customers what they want. The restaurant is open seven days a week, and each day they offer a different promotion. According to Lee, Oki will also begin having happy hours in the near future.

“We just opened,” said Lee. “So we still want to decide what’s going to be popular.”

After working at a sushi restaurant for eight years, Lee was finally able to open her own last week. Opening your own restaurant is not easy work, according to Lee. Finding employees that have experience is an essential start of starting a successful business.

“You need to hire more people with experience, you need to train more people,” said Lee. “It’s risky wasting my time.”

Oki is located on Church Street nestled between Toast Eatery and VIP Scrub Club dog groomers. The Muni J train stops right in front of the building, at 30th and Day Street.

Chuy’s Fiestas It’s no secret that San Francisco’s Mission District has a surplus of Mexican food. It’s nearly impossible to walk a few blocks in the Mission without coming across one of its many Mexican restaurants. Tucked away on a seemingly residential block of Folsom Street is Chuy’s Fiestas, a small diner that just opened two and a half months ago, but they’re ready for the competition.

“The food is very traditional,” said the restaurant’s co-owner Jesus Licea.

“You can see where we’re coming from.”

Licea, who is originally from Mexico, has been in San Francisco for 24 years. He spent much of that time working in restaurants and catering.

He and the other two co-owners are all from Michoacan, a state well known for being the birthplace of carnitas.

He and his partners had always talked about opening their restaurant, and after two months of looking for a restaurant, finally found a location.

They talked to the previous owner for a month before he decided to sell it to them.

They plan on having a taco tuesday deal as soon as they receive their beer and wine license.

Adrian Arancibia reads poetry from his book in LTNS 530: Latina/os and the Media , taught by lectureer Julieta Kusnir. on Fri. Oct. 4. Photo by Carly Wipf / Golden Gate Xpress.

Chilean poet reflects on experiences through writing

BY FELICIA HYDE STAFF REPORTER

A

drian Arancibia swayed back and forth as his passionate words overflowed and filled the space between the students of a Latina/o and the Media class: “Heat makes a revolution, vacant shelves, empties hearts, feeling rage … but don’t clench your bag lady, I ain’t gonna take nothing, and I treasure my words more, ‘do you still have an accent?’ she asked,

GGX_FALL_2019_Issue 7!!!!jghkvfdbhjkfdzxhjkdfzkshjfasd.indd 7

‘Do you still have an accent?’ she asked.”

Last week, Arancibia spoke at a poetry reading event hosted by the Latino/Latina Studies department and read from his recent 2019 collection of poetry called “Poems of Exhaustion,” focusing on “dealing with the exhaustion of life, the exhaustion of the political climate at the moment and how to navigate to young children how they can be who they want to be in life when this world makes it so they can’t.”

A barbacoa taco from Chuy’s Fiestas. The restaurant’s barbacoa tacos, the highlight of their menu, are served with a cup of the residual broth that the meat was cooked in. The tacos can be dipped in the broth, or the broth can be eaten alone like a stew. Each taco is $3.25. (Photo by Briana Battle / Golden Gate Xpress)

Chuy’s: The restaurant opens at 8 a.m. everyday and close at 7p.m. Monday through Friday, 6p.m. on Saturday, and 3p.m. on Sunday. 2341 Folsom St. Oki: They are open 4:30p.m. - 9:30p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 4:30p.m. to 10p.m. Friday through Sunday. 1740 Church St. DBC: 12p.m. to 11p.m. Monday through Friday. 12p.m. to 2a.m. Saturday and Sunday. 1109 Fillmore St.

“The purpose of the event is to provide students with an opportunity to reflect on the importance of collective memory as a form of resistance,” Katynka Martinez, professor and chair of Latina/Latino studies department said.

Not only does Arancibia’s poetry speak to those within the Latinx community, but to people of all ages, gender and racial backgrounds.

Arancibia, 48, was born in Iquique, Chile, arriving in the U.S. when he was five years old. Arancibia has a doctorate in literature and is an English and creative writing professor at Miramar Community College in San Diego. He is the founder of the seminal Chicano/Latino performance poetry collective Taco Shop Poets.

The Taco Shop Poets, formed in 1994, was a group of people who used spoken word, poetry and improvisation influenced from punk and hip hop in the spaces of taco shops.

“I learned about the cultural implications of DIY poetry readings, and how talented writers can make incredible content without many resources,” Grace McGuire, a third-year English major at SF State said.

“I really loved hearing how the Taco Shop Poets slowly expanded from just a few dudes doing poetry at a taco shop into a respected community of poets that were being covered by the LA Times.

He is also the co-editor of the “Taco Shop Poets Anthology: Chorizo Tonguefire.”

His other works include “Atacama Poems” (2007) and “The Keeper/El Guardador” (2013).

“Being Chicano or Latino, whatever it may be either today or back in the 1990s doesn’t really embrace [the true Latino or Chicano] experience, which makes the situation where you have to find spacing and create spaces for yourself, hence that’s why we made it in the taco shops,” Arancibia said.

Arancibia’s writing reflects on the lives of immigrants, alternating between English and Spanish in his poetry which explores topics like gentrification, family and his Chilean heritage.

“What am I? I’m an immigrant, so it’s like when we begin writing, we write about what we see, what we experience, what affects us, what moves us,” Arancibia said.

“For me, most of the topics I write about are specific things that I’ve gone through or I can kind of see and reflect on it and compare it to mine.”

When asked about his inspirations for

“

What am I? I’m an immigrant, so it’s like when we begin writing, we write about what we see, what we experience, what affects us, what moves us.

- ADRIAN ARANCIBIA

”

poetry, growing up around hip hop was major part as well as influence from other famous poets such as Quincy Troupe, Victor Hernandez Cruz and Spanish professor Jaime Concha from UC San Diego.

Arancibia attended UC Berkeley for Rhetoric and Composition/Writing Studies (1989) and then went to UC San Diego for English Language and Literature (1991).

“That background should be the springboard for being able to create, don’t try to hide that,” Arancibia said. “Your background is the secret ingredient to create and write great poetry. The more that we’re comfortable with that, the more we share that, the richer our society becomes.”

Writing for Arancibia was not only used for telling stories, but to recognize and document his Latin and American narrative as one unit. Writing was a way to allow others to become a part of his experiences and understand the U.S. held one identity and not separated one of Latin experience and American experience.

“I love how Arancibia emphasized that the students present at the reading, mostly Latinx college students, were the ones constructing an American sound in literature,” McGuire said. “It was not Iowa English, not our president, and not any of the people who try to invalidate their existence and experiences.”

10/7/19 10:07 PM

8•CAMPUS

TUESDAY, OCT. 8 2019 | GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG

Xpress Yourself The College of Ethnic Studies was established in 1969 after students, faculty, community members and activists came together to fight for equal access to public higher education.

They made a stance for more faculty of color and changes in the curriculum which would encompass the history and culture of all backgrounds, including ethnic minorities. The Nov. 6, 1968 strike was led by the Black Student Union and a coalition of other student organizations known as the Third World Liberation Front (TWLF) was the longest campus strike in the United States.

Now 50 years later, Ethnic Studies has resonated with many no matter their age, gender, sexual orientation or racial background. Here are a few of the people who have something to say about the college:

What does Ethnic Studies mean to you?

“It really helps people discover who they are and really try to understand where they came from and how our future is going to look.”

-Meagan Chan

“It allows students to cultivate language, to better describe the kinds of narratives first we’ve been placed in and second the kinds of narratives we have the agency to construct.”

-Diego Gomez

“As a kid growing up in middle school and high school I didn’t really have the opportunity to learn about myself or my identity, and I think that’s really important because you learn about the history that’s yours and not necessarily the of America which is white history basically.”

-Anthony Lavilla

“It gives us a chance to learn about our culture.

For me going through K-12, I only learned about U.S. history. I only knew my family’s story from listening to my grandparents, but actually learning about it in books and relating to other students, -Justice Devera

“Learning my history, learning my story, learning the history and stories of the people around me whether they be Filipino or not, holds so much power and is very healing for a lot of people because it shows solidarity. Our stories deserve to be learned, shared and loved for what they are.” -Jon Ray Guevarra

I am today pursuing Asian American Studies. It [ethnic studies] made me realize how important it is to learn my history, learn the reason why a lot of our folks as Filipinos leave our country and have to pursue our careers and dreams somewhere else when we can’t stay in our homeland.” -Shara Orquiza

“It’s something that made me reevaluate my perspective on how I was living my life up until I came here. I had no idea what ethnic studies was or I didn’t see how it was important until I got to San Francisco.” -Allyza Clarin

“It helps students learn how education can be a form of activism and how they can use their learning for social change and to achieve social justice.” -Valerie Soe

“It’s a way for me to heal. Ethnic studies has made me reflect about my family’s history.

Whether it’s from the Philippines to Mexico, learning the history of their resistance has definitely grounded me on what I want to do with my work.” -Nickel Rivera

GGX_FALL_2019_Issue 7!!!!jghkvfdbhjkfdzxhjkdfzkshjfasd.indd 8

10/7/19 10:07 PM